RESEARCH. EDUCATION. DEVELOPMENT. PRESERVATION.

Rupununi Learners is a social enterprise dedicated to a holistic approach to environmental conservation, encompassing wildlife research, education, economic development and cultural preservation.

Donate to the emPOWERment campaign!

There is a place in South America where, in high-water years, the Amazon, Essequibo, and certain of their tributaries overflow and mix, and many aquatic species meet, in the floodplain of the Rupununi River--That is where you will find us.

This geographic nexus has given rise to one the most diverse fish habitats on earth. Guyana is sometimes called a "land of giants:" the largest alligator, ant, anteater, armadillo, eagle, otter. rodent, constricting snake, and spider in the world all make the Rupununi their home.

Rupununi Learners Incorporated (RLI) is a Guyanese nonprofit corporation registered in 2007. Its Board and membership are entirely composed of Rupununi village residents.

Rupununi Learners Foundation (RLF) has been a United States nonprofit foundation since 2001. Its Board is entirely composed of United States residents.

We bring together the needs, interests and resources -- human and material -- of participants from both hemispheres. Our ideas, projects and products emerge through a process of continuous dialog and encounter.

The intellectual commitment to an adaptive, dialogic process brings with it a certain way of working with people. Unlike "best practices" and other wisdom aimed at generating replicable projects, this approach is based on the nurture of authentic relationships among unique individuals. Our values are also our conscious, applied ways of working: acceptance, support, trust, compassion, gratitude and love are sensitive instruments that can approach thorny, mutual challenges in development, which we understand as human development, above all.